


Can I Change?

by anxiouslyfred



Series: Dukexiety week 2020 [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Cinderella References, Ducking Out, Getting Together, M/M, Pining, Religious References, background moceit, being ignored, dukexietyweek2020, fairytale, remus goes to the ball, trying to get accepted
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:40:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26092768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anxiouslyfred/pseuds/anxiouslyfred
Summary: Remus wants to be accepted by all the sides. No matter how much he enjoys playing the villain he still wants acceptance. Virgil is just trying to help with his attempts. They both can’t help connecting Remus to fairytale roles just very different roles
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders
Series: Dukexiety week 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1894072
Comments: 1
Kudos: 66





	Can I Change?

Remus watched a lot more than he acted. He was Thomas’s intrusive thoughts and his creativity, but both those roles only surfaced uses occasionally. In fact he had to watch a lot because he sometimes functioned more like a fire alarm than anything else.

When there were multiple sides all struggling at the same time Remus would start yelling, start flinging ideas from his side of creativity out into Thomas’s mind. Sometimes he’d end up sat giggling in the corner as Roman flustered and tried to figure out what the idea he was being thanked for actually was. It was always gratifying to see his job as Creativity get praise even if Thomas had a fairly unhealthy mindset that only useable ideas could come from Roman and not Remus.

Still, because he just watched so much of the time he wasn’t actively disrupting things to try and get one of the others feeling better he did end up essentially being a villain in the mind space, or one of the Dark Sides as Roman had called them when Thomas finally picked up that there might be more sides of him than he originally thought.

It was always a fun role to play since it worked with the intrusive thoughts he had to bring up when things got bad. There was only one problem with it though.

If you play a villain sooner or later it will cause you pain, whether or not it began as your choice. The words start to cut too deep and you’re too far into the role to stop them without it being seen as more banter or fulfilling the role even further.

The only quick way Remus had seen to escape the role at that point is with dramatics and if Remus knew anything it was witnessing dramatics. Now he just needed to copy everything his brother was known for doing.

Easy.

If only.

He tried ducking out originally, copying Virgil since he was the side Remus adored watching the most. That way hopefully someone would notice and come to find him, finally acknowledge the good that Remus does.

Except Logan had already acknowledged the good of his role, and how it impacted the others. He’d even pointed out the causes behind Remus’s growing and shrinking prominence to Thomas.

Virgil was the only one to notice, appearing on his bed and laying down. Remus didn’t react when he felt the other side appear in his room, already entirely focused on ducking out. That was before Virgil started speaking.

“I wonder if you have notebooks in here of everything you’ve watched happening. I know Logan and Roman would do that. Write their observations or grand stories of each day in journals and save them. Probably even reflect over what different actions suggest about the situations.” Virgil was already addressing Remus as though he was there, but was just staring at the ceiling as he carried on musing.

“Somehow that doesn’t seem like your style. You’ve been doing the watching thing for far longer than can be recorded in the books I can see on your shelves, most of which are more likely to be sketchbooks anyway

“Come find me if you want to share anything interesting you watch though. I could help if you need to sound a concern over something.” He hadn’t stayed long, and almost as soon as Remus was about to pull himself back into his role again Virgil was getting up to leave.

There was one last glance at the room before Virgil left with the words, “I’ve grown used to your stares. I hope they aren’t over.”

Being dramatic by ducking out obviously was not easy.

Remus next thought to play along with the religious films he’d been introduced surrounding, dramatically pray for forgiveness in the middle of the common space, wailing and bemoaning all his wrongs and how sorry he was for them.

“Go to a monastery if you’re going to insist on piety, Remus. We’re exercising self-care tonight not self punishment.” Janus dismissed him, glaring through a face-mask.

Beside him, Patton had curled up a little more, biting his lip and looking to Janus for guidance apparently. “Surely we can listen to his apologies and let him calm down with us.” He suggested tentatively.

Janus just shook his head. “Remus goes through phases like this every so often. He’ll work through it if you ignore him for long enough.”

“And usually gets one of us the help we need at the same time as that.” Virgil hissed, having gone unnoticed as he came down the stairs since Remus had carried on praying loudly while the pair tried to dismiss or ignore him. “I think this time I’ll listen to him, but since you’re having a selfish night taking over our commons, we’ll talk in the kitchen.”

The suggestion was enough for Remus to latch onto Virgil, clinging to him like a koala as he went into the kitchen, still keeping up the pleas for forgiveness until he was placed on a counter top.

“If I say you’re forgiven is it going to matter?” Virgil smirked a little, glancing back through to where Logan and Roman had popped downstairs to check if everything was okay still.

“Am I going to be the villain forever?” Remus shook his head, asking his own question. He knew that Virgil accepted him now, the times he’d been watching since trying to duck out had revealed that much. That didn’t help him get accepted by everyone though, especially when he was realising more and more that the ‘acceptance’ he’d thought he had from Janus was more like being ignored or dismissed.

He wasn’t expecting Virgil to peer curiously at him before beginning to scheme silently a little.

“No, you’re just trying to play the role of a villain wanting to be redeemed when really that’s not where you’d fit in a fairytale. I’ll see if I can do something to help.” Virgil decided after a while of thinking, offering a one armed hug before he headed out of the kitchen. “Just remember if Roman invites you to something this week, I’d suggest you accept it. Accept it for me?”

Remus just cheers an agreement, exaggerating the joy at having some help. He wasn’t sure his next idea would be very successful in anything other than making him more hated.

The invite from Roman came only a couple of days later, before Remus had decided on carrying out any more attempts to be accepted. He wasn’t sure just how he’d be accepted by the other sides because of a ball, apparently to find a noble prince of the imagination realm a suitor, but if it was what Virgil asked for of course he was going to do it.

Of course he still had to break the rules a little. The invite specifically insisted on formal wear, and Roman had not so graciously said that his usual uniform would be perfectly suitable for it. Just because of those facts he was going to go in the mess clothes he kept for painting or sculpting or well any creatively messy activity he’d encountered so far.

That didn’t stop the creations in the imagination from letting him into the ball, although it did have Roman immediately trying to make a beeline for him upon entrance. He was interested in how that conversation might have gone down actually, but the music turning into an introductory tune and lights being directed towards the balcony opposite the entrance he’d come though stopped everyone to turn to it.

Remus did slide down the bannister to join the crowd waiting as the doors behind the balcony opened, trying to make sure there was plenty of a crowd between him and his brother. Only then did he look back up at the spotlight on the balcony.

There stood Virgil, clearly dressed by Roman if the outfit was anything to go by. To one side of him was an imagination resident, holding a scroll up. “Introducing Prince Virgil of the Thomasphere! The Kingdom greets all our honoured guests and noble subjects to Prince Virgil’s suitor ball.” They proclaimed, bowing and stepping back to the door with a bow.

Virgil meanwhile had been scanning through the crowd, Remus wasn’t quite sure who for, but as soon as Virgil’s eyes met his the other was trying to hold in snickers. “Kind subjects, I will not hold your hopes up for the duration of the evening. I have already decided who I would like to be my suitor, if he will accept.” He announced, and suddenly Remus had to know where each of the other Sides were in the hall, having only located Roman and Virgil so far. He almost missed Virgil adding “I shall go an ask for his hand first before announcing his name to you all.”

It was easy to locate Janus and Patton, both stood near the band that was set up to one side of the people, just below the balcony. Logan was harder to spot, dressed in more blues than he usually would and blending in among the brightly coloured pageantry. Remus finally spotted him near the base of one set of steps from the balcony, and easily traced the staircase up, now expecting Virgil to be heading down them towards Logan.

Instead Virgil wasn’t headed towards any of the others, all located closer to the opposite set of stairs to the one he was coming down. The closest staircase to Remus actually and that was the first clue to what Virgil hoped to happen that evening he got.

He didn’t have any time to try and figure out further clues though because Virgil was stood in front of him, letting out a breathy laugh. “Do I have to be fairy godmother and prince charming all at once for you?” Virgil asked, looking Remus up and down once more. “You’re much better at manipulating outfits than I am.”

“If you’re saying my outfit isn’t good enough for this event then it’s only fair you’re the one who changes it.” Remus suggested, throwing a wink his way and still bewildered over being Virgil’s choice. “Does this mean I can kiss and bite at your skin? That we’re dating and I can cling on to you as much as I want to?” The questions couldn’t be held back now Remus had started speaking, however much he wanted to hold onto the moment.

Virgil just nodded to all the questions, falling silent as he concentrated on Remus and his outfit. The transformation came gradually, the paint splatters growing along his arms into stripes, stains from clay dust expanding into a jacket and all slowly merging to shades of greens and browns until Remus was stood in the suit of a Tudor farmer. Perhaps the outfit still wasn’t the level of nobility a royal ball would require but Remus adored it.

“Perhaps no biting unless we’re in private, but yes, we can start dating now.” Virgil was the one to break the silence that fell between them while they took in the outfit. “But first you might want to greet my subjects and just look at the expressions of the others.”

The quiet whisper made Remus turn, spotting Roman looking over at them proudly. Janus and Patton were having a hushed conversation between them, starting off with frowns although by the time they met his eyes they were grinning again, nodding in what seemed to be approval. Logan was the most surprising to Remus, he was watching them with a calculating gaze.

Virgil spotted that at the same time as him, beginning to snicker. “You might watch us all the time but Logan always seems to pay little attention until something big happens and then he has to analyse everything leading up to it and try to figure out if he should have predicted a situation would occur.”

“Enough of that, I’ve got peasants to traumatise.” Remus just cackled, brushing the comment off for now and dragging Virgil up the stairs, all the bounce he’d usually use to alarm people going into his excitement at having Virgil for himself now.


End file.
